Faunal and archaeological remains as evidence of climate change in freezing caverns, Yukon Territory, Canada

Animal and plant remains, some associated with prehistoric artefacts, were collected in freezing caverns (glacieres) of northern Yukon Territory. Radi ocarbon dates show that the oldest remains are Middle Wisconsinan (ca. 38 0 00 BP). The absence of material of Late Wisconsinan age likely indicates th at the caves were infilled by ice during this cold period. Climate warming and ice melting during the Holocene allowed animals and prehistoric hunters to regularly visit these caves. Ice plugs were evidently smaller during th e early Holocene than they are now.